Webmaster General Forum

I have a client who wants to upload 1 file (specials menu) to the server daily. I don't want him to screw up the site; however, I'm not doing this everyday. Can I use filezilla? He can drag and drop the file into the folder and upload. If not, what do you recommend?

You can set up an ftp account for just one folder on the site if he messes it up the it will only mess up that folder or page.

Set him up ftp download the page or folder he is going to be in and show him how to change the menue prices and etc. This is a great way to get customers involved with the site development and yet restrict them to just on folder on the site and nothing else.

For simple stuff, I like to let the customer use tools he's familiar with. For example, in a similar application, I let the client upload a .csv file straight out of Microsoft Excel, and then a PERL script included on the page reads that .csv file and outputs valid HTML (or a very specific error message if the file format is incorrect in any way).

If the client can be trusted to use an FTP upload, that's a simple way to do it. If not, I like the form-based method kiwibrit mentioned above.

Upload some sort of file, containing only content, which is "included" into a pre-existing framework (*not* using i-frames or frames) of heading and navigation. I use something like this on very simple sites, but the person making the changes has to wrap content in heading and paragraph tags themselves, and know how to use strong and emphasis tags too. All styling happens from an external stylesheet which they cannot reach.

For one page, it would be overkill to use some sort of wiki application, but the easy formatting options that a wiki allows seems almost tempting. In this case, new page creation would be disallowed, and there would only be one authorised user.

If your client is like many of mine that are not interested in learning all the tech stuff ("I'm not a computer guy like you") I'd write them a small password-protected script to upload the files, and automate the process of storing the files precisely where you want them. There are many on the 'net to use as a starting point.

This has a number of distinct advantages. It makes the client feel like they have control, it makes them feel smarter, and it prevents the unexpected phone calls ("I think I messed something up, I went to upload that file and it was the wrong file, I tried to delete it but I deleted index.html, is that important?")

The other is when you get tired of this client and pass it on to someone else you don't have to explain all the hidden exceptions (customer has access to site, but only this directory . . . don't delete this, don't delete that . . . you get the idea . . .)